Balls have for many years been provided for entertainment and amusement of both children and adults. Balls are normally used in such a way that they can bounce at an angle off a hard surface.
When using a ball in various games it is of interest that the bounce is predictable. This means that a player of a game should be able to understand the bounce in order to catch or hit it properly.
However, it is in some games also of interest to have a mostly predictable behavior, which at times is unpredictable. A game involving bouncing and some score based on catching the ball after a bounce, will thus need a bounce that is predictable in most cases. However, a certain amount of unpredictability will increase the fun of the game. It is therefore of interest with a bounce that has a certain degree of or limited unpredictability.
One example of a ball-like playing object having a bounce with a certain degree of unpredictability is disclosed in WO 95/01818, which playing object is described as being suitable for sharpening the catching skills in the game of cricket. This playing object is made up of a polyhedron with a number of faces.
Another example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,443,863, where a sports training ball designed to develop reaction and reflection skills is described. The ball is spherical and on the surface of it there are provided seven semispherical knobs, providing an erratic bounce.
The erratic or unpredictable behavior of the first mentioned playing object, despite not being spherical, is not erratic or unpredictable enough for some games, while the bounce of the sports training ball is too erratic or unpredictable to be used in these games.
Another ball that exists is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,928,053. This ball, which is hollow, is also spherical and covered by hemispheric projections.
There is therefore a need for a playing object that has a bouncing behavior that is in-between the behavior of the above-mentioned playing object and sports training ball.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for an improved playing object.